Page 16 of Every Which Way

She fluffed the dress so it draped instead of tangled. Fine, the skirt wasn’t that poofy. She fluffed it out some more so that it draped over the podium.

“I’ll need to take it up a little.” Akira stepped back. “Look now, ladies!”

Laney and Adrielle lowered their hands from over their eyes, and both gasped.

“Is that good?” Kenna asked.

Laney nodded. “It’ssogood.”

All Kenna could think about as she stared at their reactions was how she’d never done this with Bradley. They’d been engaged when he died, but really only because she was a few weeks pregnant. Barely engaged, hardly pregnant at all.

They were about to tell the FBI about their situation. Working on what they were going to do about it. Making plans for the future that never got this far because he’d died. She’d lost everything and managed to continue.

Their chance had been over practically as soon as it began.

Kenna felt the burn of tears in her eyes and turned away, but that gave her a look at herself in the mirror. She didn’t recognize the woman looking back at her. She’d never met this version of herself, the one who was going to be a wife. Maybe a mother.

Her gaze zeroed in on her arms and how awful they looked. Everything else clean and tidy, except the skin of her forearms. Ragged and red.

Moving on meant carrying the horror of the past with her because it had been carved into her skin. She couldn’t leave it behind. It had been washed away, but the evidence was still there. Like Jesus after He’d been crucified. Not that her situation wasanythinglike His. Just enough that she could understand a small part of what it meant to see the scars and remember what happened. Every day it was there.

She would never forget.

She’d read that verse recently about having fellowship with Him in His suffering. At the time, the meaning had eluded her, but now that she’d had a tiny glimpse of it, she was humbled by the immensity of what He’d done for her.

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“You don’t like it!” Akira rushed over. “We find something else for you to try.”

Kenna shook her head. “Sorry. It isn’t the dress.” She took Akira’s hand. “The dress is beautiful. It’s kind of perfect, actually. There’s just a lot of things going through my head right now.”

Akira stood beside her, on the floor instead of the podium. She barely came up to Kenna’s waist but still reached up and took Kenna’s hand. “White silk gloves that go to your elbows?”

“I didn’t even think about that.” Maizie came over to stand on Kenna’s other side. “I don’t even notice them now.”

That probably wasn’t true, but she appreciated Maizie’s attempt to make her feel better. “Thanks, Maze.”

What was she going to do about her forearms?

Maizie said, “When you marry Jax, will you guys adopt me so I can have his last name?”

Kenna flinched. She flipped the end of the dress around so she could face Maizie, touching her cheeks again. Drawing her close. When had it become this kind of day? She leaned in and smiled. “Yes.”

Maizie’s eyes glistened with tears. “Thanks, Kenna.”

She whispered, “We need a case.”

Things were getting far too real. Too emotional. Too…everything, and Jax wasn’t even here! Secretly, she was a little overwhelmed by the idea of getting married. Some people might think their relationship had progressed slowly, but all she could do was try to figure out how to slow things down.

Maizie laughed. “You’re the one who sent that woman away.”

“She was interrupting this.” Kenna swept her arm down at the dress. And it was a lot. It was enough.

But in the story of her life, this wasn’t the way she’d thought it would go.

Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

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